[Harp-L] ElectoHarmonix Freedom Amp Review

[Ray Beltran <raybeltran@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's been several months since I had asked y'all for your opinions on
battery-powered amps. Thanks to those who posted comments and experiences.

Among the more common solutions were Pignoses, Hogs, Crates, Rolands. I
happened upon a new amp, the Pyp-Bomb. Came "this close" to springin' for
one. But then I found the ElectroHarmonix Freedom amp.

<http://www.ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F44%5FFreedom%5FAmp>

Specs looked alright, good-sized speaker, nice wood enclosure. I was looking
for an amp that was relatively clean sounding compared to the Pignose and
it's kin. I prefer to introduce distortion as a dynamic through technique,
rather than having it on a dial. And although the Freedom does have a "Bite"
control, the reviews on Harmony Central reinforced the notion that this amp
is suited for acoustic guitars, and the Bite introduces more of an edge,
rather than grating grind. I was looking for something simple in an amp,
too, and the Freedom fits the ticket here with just three knobs ­ Volume,
Tone, & Bite. Single input, preamp out. Everything looked pretty good, so I
figured I'd give it a shot.

I've had it for a couple of months now, and although I've taken it to a few
practices (which is awfully convenient!), I had never played it
outside...until last night. I was with a group friends from my church and we
played out on the streets of Portland, Oregon near Pioneer Square. The amp
did not disappoint.

The Freedom amp has plenty of volume. In fact, at one point, we were asked
to turn down from one of Portland¹s finest, with most of the volume coming
from my Freedom, drowning out my guitarist's Fender Amp-Can. But to be fair,
I'm sure he had some headroom he could play with.

And although there's plenty of volume, it's almost all on or all off when
using it for harp. All the knobs sweep from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock. I can
only get it to 8 and 1/2 before I hits feedback in my studio. (When outside,
it's a bit more forgiving. If I turn up to 9, it's WAY loud.) Just before
feedback, there's a good amount of crunch. Bring the volume down EVERY SO
SLIGHTLY and it's just right.


The Tone control is flat when set to 12 o'clock, and currently I run it at
about 10 o'clock.

It must be charged for at least 4 hours, and holds a charge from 4 to 6
hours. It cannot be operated when plugged into A/C.


Bottom line...The Freedom amp is not for everyone, as it's VERY gainy for
harp, making it a bit of a challenge to use. (An EQ pedal might help here).
But when you're dialed in, it has a really good sound for a small, solid
state amp. There are some solid state "overtones" that seem to occur from
time to time, but I believe it's characteristic of most all solid state
amps, and I'm willing to live with this minor anomaly considering what this
amp was really intended for and taking into account all of it's positive
qualities.

For now, I'm happy. Here's a sound clip recorded in my studio:

http://resgraphics.com/Music-Audio.html

Clip is at the bottom of the left-hand column.

Thanks, and God bless y'all.

Ray.
-- 
www.resgraphics.com/music